Beijing is pushing Ottawa to back its bid to join a major free trade agreement between Indo-Pacific nations, including Canada, Japan and Australia, according to a Canadian senator who just returned from a diplomatic mission to China. Senator Clement Gignac, who co-chairs the Canada-China Legislative Association, said he in turn urged his Chinese counterparts to lift travel sanctions on Canadian...
Two weeks before byelection day, pollsters Nik Nanos and Quito Maggi are predicting a Liberal advantage in the riding of Terrebonne, Que. The presence of 42 independent candidates and the use of a “write-in” or “adapted ballot” could prove decisive in the tightly contested April 13 byelection in Terrebonne, Que., say some Liberal sources and pollsters, adding that a close...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is striking a softer tone as his party launches a new advertising campaign aimed at affordability and national sovereignty. New Conservative ads set to begin airing Tuesday across Canada, focuses on the Liberal record since 2015 and the rising cost of food since then. The ads accuse the Liberal government of making life less affordable under...
Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says if he were in U.S. President Donald Trump’s shoes, he would focus the country’s efforts on ensuring Iran never develops nuclear weapons, “without getting involved in a permanent quagmire.” Poilievre gave his assessment of the unfolding U.S-Israel war against the Iranian regime on his latest podcast appearance.
Voters in two ridings in Ontario and one in Quebec have until the end of the day to head to advance polls in upcoming federal byelections that could give Prime Minister Mark Carney a majority government. Last month, Carney announced byelections in the two Toronto-area ridings of Scarborough Southwest and University-Rosedale and the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne set for April...
The latest Weekly Federal Tracker from Liaison Stratégies shows the Liberal Party, led by Mark Carney, maintaining a commanding 11-percentage-point lead over the Conservatives as the spring political season intensifies. The survey finds the Liberals with 44% (-1) support, followed by the Conservatives at 33% (no change) and the NDP at 9% (no change). Liaison surveyed a random sample of...
The research gauged the opinions among Canadians on their general impression of the Canadian Armed Forces, their views on whether a career in the CAF is a good option for young people today, whether the CAF makes them feel proud to be Canadian, whether they would be willing to serve in the CAF in either a full time or part...
Mark Carney seemed especially keen last week to quash any speculation that he intended to shut down Parliament and deliver a new throne speech in the near future. “It has never even entered my thinking, the possibility of that,” Carney replied, when asked about the rumours, which first appeared in The Globe and Mail.
The last time a Liberal represented Terrebonne in Ottawa, Jimmy Carter was in the White House and a 9-year-old named Justin Trudeau spent his days running around the grounds at 24 Sussex. Provincially, the Liberal Party of Quebec last won it in 1973. That’s not just trivia. It tells you how unnatural this moment is.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has been unable to participate in decisions related to the federal government’s proposed high-speed rail line after setting up an ethics screen last year due to his partner’s ties to the Crown corporation behind the project. The screen means the finance minister has had to recuse himself from all discussions related to the Alto proposal for...
Tehran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and wants a permanent end to the war, says Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. That report came shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his deadline of Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants and other infrastructure targets attacked. In a news conference...
There has been a lot of debate in recent weeks about the province’s decision to take over the City of Toronto’s role in the agreement governing Billy Bishop Airport and to acquire the city-owned lands at the airport. Some have asked why the province would take such a step. The answer is that Billy Bishop is a critical piece of...
I have an urgent request for Prime Minister Mark Carney: please come to Vaughan, Ont., to meet with our Jewish community. As Vaughan’s mayor, I want you to know that Jews here feel angry, scared, defiant, tired, shocked and beleaguered. Who can blame them? I’ve lived my entire life in this country, but I have never before witnessed the shocking...
Long before his convincing victory last week, Avi Lewis, the brand new federal New Democratic Party leader, was widely portrayed as too “radical” for the country, for his party, for the times. He would doom the NDP to further irrelevance, torpedo the electoral prospects of provincial NDP premiers and party leaders, frighten ordinary voters with his “wild-eyed” ideas and intemperate...
By the time you read this, U.S. armed forces may well have launched a ground war in Iran. Or they may have begun to withdraw from the region and go home. There could be a ceasefire, in exchange for Iran’s agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz. Or the war could have escalated further, with stepped-up U.S. attacks on Iranian...
Stephen Lewis was the greatest political orator I ever saw in my lifetime. But don’t take it from me. Listen to Martin Perelmuter, president and co-founder of Speakers Spotlight, a Toronto agency that represents a stable of Canada’s best speakers. “I’ve probably seen well over 1,000 speakers, over the past 31 years, and he’s the GOAT!” Perelmuter says, referring to...
It's a pivotal time for all three main federal political parties. Greg MacEachern, Mélanie Richer and Fred DeLorey check Canada's political pulse as the Liberals inch closer to a majority government.
Even after President Trump’s televised address on Wednesday night, the obtuseness and antagonism of the Napoleonic military geniuses in much of the world’s media think that the Iran War could be a quagmire and stalemate without a formal Iranian surrender. Trump repeated that his objectives are the permanent end of Iran’s nuclear military ambitions and of its support of terrorism...
On March 2, when Pierre Poilievre sat down for a podcast interview with former CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge, he jokingly noted that Mansbridge had called him Mr. Poilievre. “You’re the leader of his majesty’s loyal opposition,” said Mansbridge, explaining his formality.
Now that the federal New Democrats have selected Avi Lewis as their leader, Canadians know the leadership offering that they will be presented by the major parties in the next campaign. Now the race is on between the parties to try to frame the ‘ballot question’ of the next campaign – whenever that may be. But at this moment, given...
The whiff of corruption hangs over Queen’s Park. We can smell it thanks to Ontario’s freedom-of-information system. It’s this system that has exposed the Ford government to the harsh light of scrutiny and revealed all manner of meddling and shady dealings. Perhaps annoyed at having been caught in flagrante delicto so many times, Premier Doug Ford now wants to dismantle...
The outpouring of emotion and praise for Stephen Lewis on news of his death came from every quarter, and deservedly so. At each stage of his life, Stephen made an impact and touched people with his clear moral direction and unequalled rhetorical power. As Ed Murrow once said of Winston Churchill, Stephen Lewis mobilized the English language and sent it...
On Sunday, after his runaway victory in the federal New Democratic Party’s leadership race, Avi Lewis linked his own anti-Zionist views to an ancestor’s opposition to the creation of a Jewish state in the Middle East. “My great-grandfather was a leader in the [Russian anti-Zionist] Jewish Labour Bund,” said Mr. Lewis, who noted that it was founded in 1897, five...
Alberta’s new legislation limiting “ideology” in classrooms is its own type of ideological flag – which is ironic, since one of the changes proposed by Bill 25 is to prohibit, with limited exceptions, the display of all flags other than Canada’s and Alberta’s. This Bill 25 flag, also known as the “Act to Remove Politics and Ideology from Classrooms and...
Alberta separatists aren’t just enthused by the fact they have apparently surpassed the necessary 177,000 signatures to force their referendum onto ballots — they’re also celebrating when they reached the target. Stay Free Alberta claimed that accomplishment a week before a judge in Edmonton hears a First Nation’s injunction bid against the citizen’s initiative on April 7, arguing that the...
If you want to know what Alberta Premier Danielle Smith really believes, you have to listen to her when she’s amongst her fellow travellers. We were afforded that opportunity last weekend, when Smith graced the Cornerstone Forum, a confab of conspiratorial alternative media personalities, with her presence. There, she echoed suspicions that Ottawa is preparing to round up pastors for...
Aaron Gunn wants a national energy program. He’d never describe it that way, of course, but the MP for North Island-Powell River is just the latest in a long line of Conservative politicians to unintentionally argue for the revival of Pierre Trudeau’s signature energy policy. With gas prices spiking above $2 per litre in his province, Gunn tried to blame...
There’s a scene in Prime Minister, the acclaimed documentary about Jacinda Ardern, where the former New Zealand prime minister is captured in a private moment: raw, unguarded, visibly carrying the weight of leading a country through catastrophe.
For more than two decades, I’ve travelled regularly to China. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s dramatic reboot of bilateral relations has increased both the frequency and the potential outcomes of my trips. I was present for the Prime Minister’s dinner event in January in Beijing. I’m back in Beijing this week, as is Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. Mr. Carney has also...
Somewhere, James Laxer is shedding a wistful tear. Along with Mel Watkins, Cy Gonick and others, Mr. Laxer led the radical Waffle faction within the federal NDP in the late 1960s and early 1970s, whose mission was to pull the party sharply to the left. They advocated for nationalization of major industries, strict limits on foreign ownership, sharply higher taxes...
Avi Lewis is a truly unconventional politician. He has managed to make himself a champion of young Canadians, which is quite a feat given that he’ll be in his 60th year in May. They provided a lot of energy to his campaign but also tend to vote less and that could prove a challenge. Under his leadership, the NDP will...
In all the reflections pouring in at the passing of Stephen Lewis, you’ll be hard-pressed to find – notwithstanding his left-side politics, with which many differed – a negative word. It is testimony to his stature as a humanitarian giant. On the global stage, Canada never produced a more eloquent standard-bearer for social justice than Mr. Lewis. I first had...
Federal Liberals, who hoped the government’s pipeline pact with Alberta was a public relations effort that would never see the light of day, should brace for its approval — including, possibly, with public money. Three Liberals privately suggested to the Star that Prime Minister Mark Carney may put federal money behind a new pipeline to the west coast — despite...
If the Carney government was looking for a fool-proof roadmap on how to rein in large online platforms from knowingly causing harm to their users — including children — the recent judgments from California and New Mexico provide some excellent guidance. First, a jury in New Mexico found Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, liable for misleading its users...
The question “Cui bono – who gains?” was a Roman judicial construct popularized by Cicero. Lenin made it famous in his 1913 article in Pravda on Russian society, “Who Stands to Gain?” The question has served for centuries as a starting point for evaluating strategic options. The prediction of unintended consequences has often served as a check point on the...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is not oblivious. He knows, as any reasonable person would, that it looks terrible for one of his MPs to try to undermine an expert witness on forced labour in China during a parliamentary committee meeting. Last week, Liberal MP Michael Ma grilled Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa, about whether she...
It’s back to the future for the NDP — and then some. Last weekend the party elected 58-year-old filmmaker Avi Lewis as party leader. During his campaign, Lewis pledged to impose a wealth tax, stop oil and gas exploration, implement national rent control, and set up public grocery stores. Ed Broadbent, the NDP leader who wanted to nationalize banks back...
Three Quebec cabinet ministers are throwing their support behind Bernard Drainville with less than one week to go in the race to replace outgoing Premier Francois Legault. Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, Health Minister Sonia Belanger and Transport Minister Jonatan Julien announced today they're endorsing Drainville in the Coalition Avenir Quebec leadership race. Drainville has positioned himself as the candidate best...
Three upcoming byelections could determine not just three local contests but whether Prime Minister Mark Carney gets a majority mandate to govern until 2029.
An increasing percentage of Canadians say that they would be willing to serve in the Armed Forces if Canada were involved in a major conflict, suggests a new poll. The public opinion survey, conducted by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail, also shows that a majority of respondents said they have a positive view of the military and would...
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says Tehran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and wants a permanent end to the war. The report comes shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants and bridges attacked. "We won't merely accept a ceasefire," Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian...
New polling suggests a majority of Canadians think Canada ought to explore joining the European Union at a fraught time for geopolitical relations. A survey of 4,000 people conducted by Spark Advocacy's polling arm in March found that one in four respondents thought it would be a good idea for Canada to formally join the economic and political bloc of...
Brian Masse says the law needed to be modernized — but more regulation is needed. The former MP who spent more than a decade pushing to legalize single-event sports betting says he doesn't regret it — but says its implementation is in some ways "sad" and "deplorable." He also says more regulation is required to curb the volume and methods...
U.S. president was unaware Charles is Canada's head of state, Robert Hardman writes in new book. An upcoming book authored by a prominent royal commentator says U.S. President Donald Trump was primarily interested in annexing Canadian territory just above the U.S.-Canada border — and his respect for King Charles may have quashed that goal. The book, titled Elizabeth II: In...
Burdett Sisler, the oldest known living man in Canada and one of the oldest Second World War veterans in the world has died. He was 110.
A veteran Canadian journalist facing unproven and disputed allegations that he is working as a pro-Russian operative was the subject of several interviews during an investigation involving the RCMP, the Star has learned. The exact purpose of the inquiries is unclear, but sources familiar with the probe said members of the RCMP-led INSET national security body had conversations with numerous...
A bill that names sterilization without valid consent as a specific offence under the Criminal Code is raising concerns from multiple medical organizations, including the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Quebec, about the potential of unintended impacts for physicians who may hesitate to perform these procedures due to fear of...
U.S. President Donald Trump made new threats to escalate strikes in Iran on Sunday, a day after U.S. forces pulled off a dramatic rescue of an aviator whose plane fell behind enemy lines after Iran had downed it days earlier. Iran showed no signs of backing down, striking economic and infrastructure targets in neighbouring Gulf Arab countries even as Trump...
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon is pushing back on the Conservatives’ calls to cancel the proposed high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City. Construction on the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project, overseen by the Crown corporation Alto, is set to begin in 2029 or 2030. But, speaking to reporters this week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the project a “boondoggle” and...
Short trip later this month will come as relations are strained between U.S. and U.K. It had long been rumoured that King Charles would make a state visit to the U.S. this spring. President Donald Trump — known for his admiration of royalty — kept mentioning the trip was in the works, too. So when the official announcement came from...
Two thirds think the UK made a mistake getting out of the EU. The disruption that President Trump has caused in international relationships and markets has prompted a lot of people to open their minds to new possibilities, and new directions. Prime Minister Carney’s speech in Davos gave flight to the idea that middle powers should look for ways to...
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Tehran had 48 hours left to cut a deal or face “all Hell”, as U.S. and Iranian forces scrambled to find a downed American airman. Trump’s latest threat came after a strike near an Iranian nuclear power plant prompted evacuations, and as Tehran announced fresh attacks in the region, with the Revolutionary...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is shuffling his deck, sending Elon Musk-style letters to his shadow ministers asking them to prove their worth. Monday’s email was referred to by one Conservative as “DOGE-like” — a reference to Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” which sent emails to U.S. federal government workers last year demanding that they list their past week’s accomplishments or...
Whit Fraser, a former journalist and the husband of Governor-General Mary Simon, says the couple are planning their exit from Rideau Hall. Mr. Fraser, who spoke with The Globe and Mail ahead of the release of his memoir, was reluctant to provide details about their wife’s plans, but the 84-year-old, whose official title is vice-regal consort, signalled that Ms. Simon...
It’s a pattern almost as old as party politics itself: candidates for party leadership campaign closer to the ideological wings, more in line with their party faithful, then immediately tack towards the centre once they win the leadership vote, more in line with the broader electorate.
President Donald Trump's comments to a British newspaper this week revived speculation about whether he is ready to pull the U.S. out of the NATO defensive pact, of which Canada is a member. Venting his frustration over what he claimed is the failure of allies to help America in its war against Iran, Trump told the Daily Telegraph NATO is...
Alberta separatists are making alternative plans to pressure Premier Danielle Smith’s government to call an independence referendum if a judge throws out their current efforts after a multiday hearing next week. Mitch Sylvestre is organizing an independence petition under Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act. Mr. Sylvestre’s campaign needs 178,000 signatures to force a constitutional referendum. Earlier this week, Mr. Sylvestre declared...
Financial institutions from Canada, China discussed monetary policy and other topics. Although Chinese tariffs on Canadian pork products remain in place after a visit to China by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, he says the important task is relationship-building — and it's not realistic to expect immediate solutions. "You cannot just expect in one meeting that you resolve everything," Champagne told...
Amid Liberal infighting and NDP disarray, Premier Doug Ford is hoping to win Scarborough Southwest for the Progressive Conservatives in a byelection expected this summer. With the stunning departure two months ago of New Democratic MPP Doly Begum to run for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s federal Liberals, Ford has been closely watching developments in the riding.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the Canada-China relationship is at a unique moment in time as he wrapped up a full day of meetings with top Chinese officials Friday in Beijing. The day saw the two countries sign a joint statement to deepen financial-sector ties. Mr. Champagne led a delegation of Canadian business leaders to China this week, which included...
The prime minister will secure a majority government if his Liberals win two of the three byelections. Premier Doug Ford is appealing for political “certainty” in Canada ahead of contentious trade negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump. Ford, in Texas on a trade mission to promote Ontario, stressed “it was the right move” when he called an early Ontario election...
As gasoline prices keep ticking higher toward $2 a litre and diesel sits near $2.50, there is little relief for Canadian drivers as the global energy crisis grows with no end in sight to the Iran war. The conflict continues to choke transit through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off roughly 20 per cent of the world's oil and natural...
Telecommunications association says ask goes 'beyond normal business operations.' The Liberal government's second attempt at giving police and spies easier access to Canadians' information includes what's anticipated to be costly demands on a range of private businesses to to change how they manage their data. But the government says it doesn't yet know how much the companies — or Canadian...
A leaked transcript of a meeting between Indigenous leaders and British Columbia Premier David Eby, about his plan to suspend the province's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA, shows them accusing him of "absolute betrayal" and colonialism. Speaker after speaker in the 17,000-word transcript of Thursday's meeting, obtained by The Canadian Press, criticize Eby's handling of...
The next phase of Middle East conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran could involve other countries or NATO members to demonstrate a united front against Tehran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, says Canada’s former top diplomat. Peter Mackay, who served as former prime minister Stephen Harper’s first foreign affairs minister, told CTV News Channel on Thursday that...
NEW YORK (AP) -- As a Kennedy scion, Jack Schlossberg got outsized attention when he launched his congressional campaign in New York City late last year.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pam Bondi is out of her job after failing to deliver criminal cases against President Donald Trump's political enemies.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday accused China of "bullying" by detaining or holding up dozens of Panama-flagged ships -- though for a short period of time -- after the Central American country seized control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal earlier this year from a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army's top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, to step down, the Pentagon said Thursday, as the United States wages a war against Iran.
Tehran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and wants a permanent end to the war, says Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. That report came shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his deadline of Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants and other infrastructure targets attacked. In a news conference...
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says Tehran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and wants a permanent end to the war. The report comes shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants and bridges attacked. "We won't merely accept a ceasefire," Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian...
U.S. President Donald Trump made new threats to escalate strikes in Iran on Sunday, a day after U.S. forces pulled off a dramatic rescue of an aviator whose plane fell behind enemy lines after Iran had downed it days earlier. Iran showed no signs of backing down, striking economic and infrastructure targets in neighbouring Gulf Arab countries even as Trump...
Short trip later this month will come as relations are strained between U.S. and U.K. It had long been rumoured that King Charles would make a state visit to the U.S. this spring. President Donald Trump — known for his admiration of royalty — kept mentioning the trip was in the works, too. So when the official announcement came from...
Two thirds think the UK made a mistake getting out of the EU. The disruption that President Trump has caused in international relationships and markets has prompted a lot of people to open their minds to new possibilities, and new directions. Prime Minister Carney’s speech in Davos gave flight to the idea that middle powers should look for ways to...
The controversy around Liberal MP Michael Ma’s comments on forced labour in China is an early test of how Prime Minister Mark Carney’s China policy is being put into practice — and whether it can remain pragmatic without drifting into equivocation, accommodation or self-censorship. Carney’s recalibration — toward a more interest-based approach aimed at stabilizing ties with Beijing while widening...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office wants to bust up a monopoly. I think I’m the target. Let me explain. The Privy Council Office (PCO), home of the prime minister and cabinet, has been flooded with complaints about its failures to comply with the Access to Information Act.
Canadian troops may be only days away from deploying to the Middle East to aid the U.S.’s and Israel’s war on Iran. The latest indication is a joint statement expressing concern about Iran’s restriction of oil tankers through the narrow Strait of Hormuz signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO allies late in the week.
Canadians who have neglected to pay their taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) have been coming forward in droves to take advantage of new amnesty rules.
We've entered the sixth week of the Iran war, and despite threats and counter threats, talks of ceasefires, there's still no end in sight. Is anyone winning this war? Dr. Janice Stein joins us again for her regular Monday talk about our changing world.
Canada’s two national opposition parties, the Conservatives and NDP — now under Avi Lewis — are relentlessly focused on affordability and dismantling a system they say screws non-elites. As this week’s panel discusses, both Lewis and Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre clearly stand for something, which raises questions about what Prime Minister Mark Carney stands for … besides fighting President Donald...
A jury in Los Angeles found that media giants Meta and YouTube were liable for designing their apps in a way that hooked young users in an addictive manner. It came right after a similar ruling in New Mexico, which found Meta is harming children's mental health and safety.
150 years ago this month, the Indian Act became law — a sweeping piece of legislation that governed almost every aspect of First Nations’ lives — and has long been criticized as unfair, racist and “unquestionably sexist." On this special edition of The House, Catherine Cullen explores the history of the discriminatory legislation with Bob Joseph, author of 21 Things...
